Chapter 84
Erasing the Evidence
The man’s face turned ashen at Ellua’s last words.
“Judging from that expression, it seems I hit the mark. Then…”
Ellua took a step closer to him and continued,
“We have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”
The man, clearly flustered, tried to feign ignorance.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but I don’t understand what you mean. Switching the horse Sir Harris rode? Impossible.”
So, he’ll pretend not to know.
She hadn’t expected him to confess right away anyway. Now she was curious to see how long he would keep up the act—unaware that doing so only deepened his guilt.
“So, are you saying I’ve misunderstood?”
“Why would I ever do such a thing? The horse I showed you was the very one that died. You even checked it yourself this morning, didn’t you?”
As if to prove his innocence, the man pulled the cloth off one of the carcasses again, revealing the horse beneath.
Ellua glanced at the dead horse and let out a short, incredulous laugh. That was exactly the blind spot that had deceived her.
“The experts who came with me wouldn’t have known what the dead horse from the tournament looked like, so they had no way to compare. If you brought in a horse of similar build and color, even I could hardly tell the difference. And for you, obtaining a horse carcass would be no trouble at all.”
“That’s absurd. You’re accusing the wrong man. If so, why did the horse suddenly go wild then?”
When he stubbornly refused to admit anything, Ellua decided to spell out his crime.
“I came across something very interesting in some books on horses.”
“What do you mean…?”
“There’s a certain herb used to strengthen a horse’s muscles, but in large doses it turns into poison. You’d know that well, wouldn’t you?”
This was precisely what Tervan had uncovered earlier—the very method that allowed the attempt on Harris’s life to be delayed by a few hours.
The man fell silent. Ellua hadn’t asked expecting an answer anyway.
“It doesn’t show symptoms right away, but once absorbed into the body, after some time the horse suffers unbearable pain before eventually dying. During the break, you probably approached under the pretense of tending to the horse and secretly mixed it into the feed.”
She walked past him as she spoke, pulling back the white cloths one by one.
“The problem is, you’d be discovered soon enough. It would only be a matter of time before you were accused. So you decided to switch the carcass. Am I wrong?”
The man, startled by how much she had figured out, kept his mouth shut. Then, stammering, he tried to wriggle out of it.
“T-That’s just Your Highness’s speculation. Do you have any proof I switched the horse?”
Ellua smiled triumphantly. He had just dug his own grave.
“Harris sent me a letter, and by chance he described the horse’s appearance. He wrote that the horse had a white spot behind its ear. But the one I saw this morning had no such mark. Am I mistaken?”
She herself hadn’t realized it until Harris’s letter arrived.
That the carcass had been switched to hide the cause of death.
As soon as she understood, she rushed here before the man could destroy the evidence.
The man slowly turned his head toward the carcass he had shown everyone that morning. Indeed, it had no such spot.
“And that evidence should still be in your possession.”
“What?”
“You couldn’t have disposed of the carcass so quickly. It’s still here somewhere—the real horse Harris rode!”
Before she even finished speaking, Ellua pulled away the last remaining cloth.
Beneath it was a horse with a similar build to the other—but just as Harris had described, there was a white spot behind its ear.
Seeing it, Ellua was certain the case was closed.
“Just as I expected.”
He must have planned to move it outside the palace once prying eyes were gone.
“It’s over. Give up. Confess before your punishment becomes even worse.”
She waited for his answer. With everything revealed, he had no other choice.
“I…”
He hesitated, then suddenly turned and bolted toward the entrance.
Damn it.
Ellua instantly gave chase, but strangely, the man stopped short at the door instead of escaping. She grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away.
“What are you doing!”
But his reaction was odd.
“It won’t open.”
“What?”
“The door won’t open!”
He looked panicked. Ellua tried herself. Just as he said, the door wouldn’t budge. She shoved with all her strength, but it was no use.
“It really won’t open.”
Someone had locked it from the outside. Trapped with the horse carcasses, a grim thought struck her.
“You… were you ordered to dispose of the bodies?”
“Eh? Y-Yes. I was told to destroy them at sundown before anyone could find out.”
His dazed nod confirmed her suspicion.
“No way…”
She shook the door harder, urgency rising in her chest. The man, unnerved, asked,
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you get it? They plan to get rid of you along with the horses!”
“What?”
“Did you really think they’d let someone who knows everything live? Don’t be such a fool.”
“That can’t be…”
He staggered in shock, his knees buckling—then caught the faint scent of something acrid.
Turning his head, his eyes widened.
“F-Fire!”
“What?”
Ellua looked where he pointed. Smoke curled up from one corner, and crimson flames licked the air.
Just as I thought. Burn everything and erase the evidence.
The wooden beams and straw inside would soon be engulfed, collapsing in fire.
“Help! Somebody help! We’re trapped in here!”
The man pounded on the walls, shouting in vain.
The walls were too solid to break, and the stable stood apart from other buildings.
Stay calm. Vandel will come. I just have to hold out until then.
She stopped the man from wasting his strength.
“Enough. Cover your nose and mouth. Focus on keeping the flames from spreading. Move the straw away from the fire. If you want to live, get it together.”
“Y-Yes…”
He obeyed quickly.
Ellua tied a cloth over her face, then used another to smother the flames, cutting off oxygen.
Harris’s horse—the key evidence—must not be destroyed.
That much I must protect at all costs.
But the fire devoured the wood, growing stronger, black smoke filling the air until breathing itself became painful.
“What do we do now?”
“Don’t give up. If you do, we’re dead.”
At that desperate moment, a voice rang from outside.
“Your Highness! Are you inside?”
That voice—
“Sir Vandel?”
“Yes!”
“The door won’t open from inside!”
“Stand back then!”
As soon as Ellua stepped away, the door shook violently several times before bursting apart with a crash.
Through the opening, Vandel appeared.
“Your Highness, quickly, this way!”
Ellua rushed out and breathed in the blessed fresh air. Behind her, the man collapsed to the ground, trembling with relief.
“Ah… I thought I was dead.”
“Are you unharmed?”
“Yes, thankfully. Ah, we must put out the fire! There’s crucial evidence inside!”
“My men already called for help. Ah, here they come.”
Knights and servants arrived, dousing the flames before they reached the roof. Soon, the fire was completely extinguished.
Ellua exhaled in relief and said to Vandel,
“You appeared at just the right moment.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t too late.”
Boren had told him to head to the stable. On the way, he spotted smoke rising faintly in the night and quickly gathered men to help.
“But why did the fire suddenly…”
“There’s something more important first.”
Ellua turned toward the man, still dazed from shock. She suppressed the urge to strike him and instead gave him one last chance.
“This is your final warning. Do you realize now what you’ve done? If you don’t tell the truth, worse will come.”
Perhaps realizing escape was impossible with Vandel here, the man dropped to his knees.
“I was wrong! Please, forgive me just once!”
“So you admit what you did?”
“… I switched the horse, yes. But the orders didn’t come from me.”
He spoke the truth to save his life—something Ellua had already suspected. There had to be someone behind him.
“And who was it?”
But the name he gave was not the one she had expected.
“It was a maid named Mari, from Your Highness’s palace.”
“Who? Mari?”
“Yes. She paid me and instructed me what to do. She even told me exactly how to switch the carcass.”
He pointed to Mari, but Ellua knew immediately. Behind Mari stood Shenil.
It was just like her—to manipulate others, keeping her own hands clean, all while ensuring nothing could be traced back.
She had even planned to burn everything with the man inside, erasing every trace.
Of course his mouth will never utter Shenil’s name. That’s why she dared attempt this.
The original target must have been Ellua herself. But after seeing her skill in the tournament, they had turned to Harris instead.
“Please, forgive me. I was pressured—I had no choice…”
“No. I will never forgive you. You know as well as I do that’s just an excuse. Pressured? No—you were simply greedy for the money.”
“T-That’s…”
“If you had thought for even a moment about how many lives you endangered, you would never have done this. Don’t shift the blame. You brought this all on yourself.”
The man clamped his mouth shut, unable to argue.
Ellua turned to Vandel.
“Can I leave the cleanup to you? Preserve the evidence as well.”
“Of course. But what about you, Your Highness…”
“I still have something I must do.”
He seemed to understand what she meant and nodded.
“Then I’ll send knights to the palace.”
“Thank you.”
Leaving the man to Vandel, Ellua turned and walked away.
No one else saw it, but her expression shifted sharply. Her eyes now held the cold, cutting edge of a blade—ready to slice through everything in her path.
